REGION 8 BUDGET REJECTED AGAIN

Regional District 8 Board of Education members are headed back to the drawing board after voters on Tuesday rejected the 2002-03 budget for the fifth time.

Voters in the district's towns of Andover, Hebron and Marlborough rejected the $15.6 million budget proposal 1,683 to 1,193. For the fifth time, voters in Andover and Hebron rejected the plan while Marlborough residents supported it.

The budget would have been a 5.6 percent increase over current spending. Andover voters defeated the budget 227-132, while Marlborough voters approved it 411-389. Hebron voters defeated the budget 1,067-650. Voter turnout in Hebron, the town with the most voters, was 31.5 percent, down from 38 percent in the fourth referendum. Turnout figures for Andover and Marlborough were not immediately available.

Thomas Hanley, chairman of the regional school board, said low voter turnout could explain why the budget did not pass.

"I'm not surprised it didn't pass," he said. "I continue to be disappointed with each referendum. A lot of people are away, so I don't think you can draw a lot of conclusions from this vote."

Hanley said he is worried about starting school on August 26 without a budget.

"We're at a point where if we make cuts in our programs, we'll affect kids' schedules," he said. "We looked at the budget and figured out what it takes to run a school system that serves 1,500 kids. The budget we proposed is what we believe is necessary to do that. We don't have a lot of time now -- we have a month. It's time to get this budget passed."

Hanley will call a special meeting of the board to decide what to do next. As mandated by state statutes, the budget must be voted on again within the next four weeks. In the meantime, Hanley said, he will continue to advocate for the budget, the schools and the students.

"I don't have a very good crystal ball," he said. "We've reduced the budget five times and it still has not passed. The board has to look at this again and decide if we need to make more cuts."

Until a budget passes, the district will operate under the 2001-02 spending plan. Operating under the old budget will put the district in a deficit by February 2003 because of increased salaries, insurance costs and the $900,000 bonding cost for a $70 million building project, Superintendent William Silver said.

In preparation for the fifth referendum, the board eliminated three school positions to reduce the budget by $51,076 to $15,582,057. The district includes RHAM High School and RHAM Middle School. Rather than cutting teaching positions, the board cut a library clerk's position and a paraprofessional in the middle school, and decided to hire one less new janitor.

Also, the board rescinded its decision to institute a "pay-to-play" policy, which would have charged students a fee to participate in high school sports next year. It would have raised $33,000 in additional revenue to offset taxes, but was criticized at public hearings and board meetings.

A fifth vote -- this time by a district meeting -- was scheduled for July 22. Board members said problems with staffing polling places necessitated a district meeting vote, instead of a referendum. However, residents petitioned the board's decision and collected the necessary 200 signatures to force a fifth referendum.

Before the third referendum, the board cut the RHAM Middle School athletics program and an alternative education teacher's position. Board members also instituted the "pay-to-play" policy at RHAM High School and trimmed another $100,000. That referendum failed, 1,791 to 1,490.

After the defeat, the board reinstated athletics and the alternative education teacher at the middle school while still cutting $82,281 from the budget.

However, the "no" votes increased. In the fourth referendum, voters rejected the $15.63 million budget, 1,915 to 1,669.

Hebron resident Stanley Jagielo said he has voted against the budget because he feels the board has not made significant reductions.

"It's just exorbitant," he said. "It's pushing people out of town, especially working guys like me. Extra money doesn't mean a better education. It starts in the home."